With the greetings and salutations out of the way let’s get down to business. I wanted to talk a little bit about what makes a good linkbait and what doesn’t. I figured I’d talk about it in terms that make sense to me. Hunting and fishing. Hopefully it’ll make sense to you as well.

What is linkbait?

Linkbait is the ability to goad another website into linking to something you’ve put on your website. No doubt someone could come up with a much more technical explanation, but I think that captures the essense of what a linkbait is well enough for my purposes. Also it isn’t required that it be a website. For instance you could goad the local radio show into mentioning your website. Linkbait comes in all shapes and sizes.

Why should I try linkbaiting?

Primarily for traffic and recognition, but there’s also an element of good clean fun to it. It is a challenge to get someone to link to your site. And the more popular they are the hard it will be to get them to link to you. Mainly for the fact that they are getting linkbait tossed in front of their faces all the time. But if you get them to take the bait you’ll enjoy the rewards of increased traffic, sales, recognition, or whatever else it happens to be you are trying to accomplish.

Finally without disregarding what I said before you should try linkbaiting for the challenge. It’s not easy. Even the most carefully crafted linkbait schemes can backfire or utterly fail. At best they won’t get noticed and at best they’ll be noticed and not appreciated as you intended them to be.

How do I linkbait? (or How do I hunt?)

The only limit you have when it comes to how is your imagination. Literally. Of course skill and finances may or may not play a part in it depending on what you are trying to do. I find the following method one of the best for linkbaiting.

Select a target

The most important thing isn’t the bait itself, but the person(s) you want to bait. Consider your options carefully and what each potential baiting target can offer you if you pull it off succesfully. Take into account how much work you’ll need to put into the bait and how much of a return you’ll get on your investment.

Think of it as Bull Elk hunt. The yearling bulls and even two year olds are relatively easy to take compared to their wiser elder brothers. They also yield much less meat than the older elk. Then there are the “elderly” elk that it’s pointless to even go after. Aside from a nice rack they don’t give you anything other than tough, bad tasting meat. In other words go after a linkbait opportunity that will give you a decent amount of “meat” but won’t leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth.

Observe your target

Not every fish will rise to the same exact bait, but every fish has a favorite bait they’ll rise to time and time again. If you go fly fishing you might fish a stretch of river dry using hand-tied caddisflies but twenty feet from that spot another school of fish won’t touch a caddisfly. Such is the way with people. What attracts the attention of one will repel another. Take the time to observe what works and what doesn’t. How crappy would it be to spend 2 weeks developing the perfect linkbait only to discover that your “fish” simply isn’t interested in?

From personal experience I can attest to the fact that it is VERY crappy when this happens. What makes it really bad is the fact that for the most part the only person I have to blame is myself. If I had only spent a little time looking at linkbaits others had tried and failed with I would have saved myself a lot of hassle. It’s the same with fishing. You talk to the other fishermen and ask what bait they’re using and if they’re having any luck. When it comes to linkbaiting you don’t need to ask you just need to pay attention.

Make it the best shot you are capable of

This is where we differ from hunting and fishing. Animals are dumb. Very dumb. They’ll let you shoot at them again and again and again before they’ll wander off. People won’t give you that opportunity. Make the first shot count by not only making it good, but also making it obvious that you were the one who did it. If you don’t make it clear who did it then there is no point as they won’t have anything to “link” to.

Reap the harvest

Assuming you’ve done what you needed to do you’ll soon be reaping the rewards of a well placed, nicely timed linkbait. Enjoy yourself for a while. Have some fun, say “hi” to your new fans and friends. A tradition in some hunting camps is to eat the heart and liver of the animal. It’s a celebratory time to commemoratore your accomplishments. Well in this case DO NOT eat the heart and liver of your linkbait target, but do celebrate! At least for a short while as your new found supply of internet “go-go juice” won’t last forever and you’ll need to find another target. Which brings us to the final point.

Save some for leaner times

Do not use all of your linkbait tricks all at once. Don’t try over and over and over again to target the same person. If they aren’t taking the bait wait a while and switch tactics. Hunting for a linkbait opportunity takes patience and practice. Eventually you’ll figure out the right bait for the right people. In the meanwhile you’d not drop scatter bombs on a deer to kill it so why do it with linkbait opportunities. In simpler terms don’t just throw stuff until something sticks.

What if I fail?

That just means you’re normal like the rest of the world who has ever tried linkbaiting. Everyone has failed at one point or another. If you fail figure out why you failed (wrong bait, bad timing, wrong target, etc) and move on and don’t fail the next time. I wish I had more sage advise to offer, but honestly that’s what you do. Press on and learn from your mistakes.

I hope that helps you with your endeavor to figure out a linkbait that works well for you. If anyone has any outstanding linkbaits they’ve pulled off in recent memory I’m sure we’d all like to hear about them. And before we go let’s review real quick.

• Select a target
• Observe your target
• Make the best shot your are capable of
• Reap the harvest
• Save some for leaner times